February 19, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Grab your jacket and binoculars for a fun afternoon in the Garden learning about our feathered friends! This annual fun and educational event celebrates the diversity of birds and highlights the behaviors and physical traits that enable them to survive.Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is an ideal setting to spot birds that live here year-around or those that migrate through to warmer winter regions. Step softly to see them nestled amid lovely Ceanothus blossoms or high above in a cottonwood branch.

Birdwatchers of all ages can flock to the Garden for a day filled with bird-related activities and information for both beginners and enthusiasts. A perennial favorite, Family Bird Fest is free with standard Garden admission.

The Family Bird Fest features knowledgeable birding exhibitors and bird life displays, drop-in family activities and identification tips. Visitors can help with the “Great Backyard Bird Count,” a national citizen-science project (an annual event that engages people across the U.S. and Canada in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are across North America).

Pomona Valley Audubon Society and Wild Wings will be at Family Bird Fest this year. Wild Wings, the San Dimas nonprofit rehabilitation center for sick and injured native birds, enables the public to safely see up close birds of prey.

Last year, an estimated 60,000 people helped the Audubon, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada take a snapshot of the whereabouts of many hundreds of bird species across the U.S. and Canada from Feb. 18 through 21, 2011. Participants identified 596 species and submitted more than 92,000 checklists, helping scientists track changes in the numbers and movements of birds from year to year. Visit www.birdcount.org to read a summary of the findings.

Family Bird Festival is sponsored in part by a generous gift from the Witherbee Family Trust and Pomona Valley Audubon Society.